Small interference RNAs, uses thereof and method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides siRNAs for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene, and the method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene in mammalian cells. The siRNAs of the present invention have the double-stranded structure, and said double-stranded structure is composed of the first single strand and the second single strand that are fully complementary, wherein the sequence of said first single strand is the same as the target sequence within the sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, and the sequence of said second single strand is complementary to the target sequence within the sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The siRNAs of the present invention can sequence specifically mediate the inhibition of plk1 gene expression, and have a good serum stability. By the introduction of the siRNAs of the present invention into the tumor cells, the expression of plk1 gene can be effectively inhibited, and the growth of tumor cells is inhibited and the apoptosis of tumor cells is promoted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is an U.S. national stage of PCT/CN2012/083195, filed on Oct. 19, 2012 which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201110319067.8, filed on Oct. 19, 2011, the contents of which are each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a siRNA, uses thereof and a method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene. To be specific, the present invention relates to a siRNA which inhibits the expression of plk1 gene and uses thereof, as well as a method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene by using a siRNA.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Polo-like kinase-1 (plk1) is a highly conserved serine/threonine kinase. Human plk1 gene is located at position 16p12 of the chromosome, encoding an mRNA of about 2.3 kb, and the molecular weight of the corresponding protein is about 67 kd. plk1 protein has a highly conserved catalytic domain at its N-terminal, and typically has three conserved domains called polo boxes at its C-terminal. The research indicates that plk1 plays a role in inducing DNA synthesis, checking and repairing DNA integrity, and preventing cell apoptosis. plk1 can also inhibit the transcriptional activity of p53 through phosphorylation, and further inhibit p53 from playing the functions of check-point protein and inducing cell apoptosis. p53 is a primary regulatory protein in G1 phase. The inhibitory effect of plk1 on cancer suppressor gene p53 induces continuous, even permanent G1 phase arrest. Further, plk1 is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors. After the expression of plk1 gene is inhibited, cell proliferation will be inhibited and cell apoptosis will be promoted, thus tumor growth will be inhibited. plk1 can also regulate the inductive production of interferon (IFN) by inhibiting MAVS, thereby disrupting innate immunity.

plk1 highly expresses in most human tumor tissues, including breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer. The high expression of plk1 has a statistical correlation with the survival rate of tumor patients, and the expression level of plk1 in tumor tissues is also closely related to tumor metastasis and prognosis, which indicates that plk1 may play an important role during the generation and development of tumors and is a potential target site of antitumor drugs. Research progress also indicates that, blocking the expression of plk1 or inhibiting its kinase activity may effectively inhibit proliferation of tumor cells and mediate their apoptosis, while no obvious impact is exerted on normal cells. At present, a plurality of plk1 inhibitors in preclinical or clinical trial stage all exhibit characteristics of high drug properties and low toxicity.

Breast cancer is one of the most popular malignant tumors among women. Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrinotherapy are four major clinical treatment means for breast cancer. Regarding most breast cancer patients, cancer cells may have already migrated to other tissues when breast cancer is determined during preliminary diagnosis, while chemotherapy as an important systemic intervention means plays an extremely important role in the treatment of breast cancer. At present, chemotherapeutic means mainly uses small molecular drugs and targeted macromolecular drugs. However, drug potency and consequent drug resistance are two major problems confronting the small molecular drugs commonly used during treatment of breast cancer, while a narrow range of applicable people is a major problem confronting targeted macromolecular drugs. Therefore, small interfering nucleic acid that can inhibit the expression of cancer gene as a substitute drug hopefully may solve the problems that cannot be solved by small molecular drugs and targeted antibody drugs. From several aspects including improvement of treatment effectiveness, drug resistance as well as reduction of toxic and side effect of antitumor drugs, the development of effective siRNA drugs, which are new pharmaceutical molecules that functions in a manner completely different from the action mechanisms of those mainstream drugs currently used in clinical application, has become an urgent need for current clinical application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a siRNA for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene, a pharmaceutical composition containing the siRNA as a pharmaceutically active ingredient, a method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene using the siRNA or the pharmaceutical composition, and use of the siRNA or the pharmaceutical composition in treatment and/or prevention of cancer diseases.

That is, the present invention achieves the foregoing object by providing the following technical solutions.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a siRNA with a double-stranded structure, the double-stranded structure consisting of a first single strand and a second single strand which are completely complementary, wherein the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 2-133 respectively, which is the same as a target site sequence in a plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1; and the second single strand complementary to the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 134-265 respectively, which is complementary to the target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 4, 17, 38, 42, 55, 65, 66, 68, 77, 93, 103, 104, 109 or 129 respectively, which is the same as a target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1; and the second single strand complementary to the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 136, 149, 170, 174, 187, 197, 198, 200, 209, 225, 235, 236, 241 or 261 respectively, which is complementary to the target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1.

According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 66, 68 or 77 respectively, which is the same as a target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1; and the second single strand complementary to the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NOs: 198, 200 or 209 respectively, which is complementary to the target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the 3′-end of at least one single strand of the first single strand and the second single strand may be attached with 1˜3 nucleotides, such that after the first single strand and the second single strand complementarily form the double-stranded structure, a 3′ protruding end consisting of the 1˜3 nucleotides forms at at least one end of the double-stranded structure, wherein the 3′ protruding end preferably consists of two consecutive deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT or two consecutive uridine monophosphates (UMP) UU.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, each of the first single strand and the second single strand contains at least one modified nucleotide group respectively, wherein the modified nucleotide group is a nucleotide group in which at least one of phosphate group, ribose group or base is modified. Preferably, the modified nucleotide group is a nucleotide group in which the 2′-hydroxy of the ribose group is substituted by methoxy or fluorine.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition containing the siRNA which inhibits the expression of plk1 gene as a pharmaceutically active ingredient, as well as a cationic ingredient, a non-cationic ingredient and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cationic ingredient is at least one selected from the group consisting of N,N-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide, (2,3-dioleoyloxypropyl) trimethylammonium chloride, N-(1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride, polyethylenimine, poly β-amino ester and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt; the non-cationic ingredient is at least one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid diblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid triblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) diblock copolymer and polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) triblock copolymer; and the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier is selected from the group consisting of phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with a pH of 4.0-9.0, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane hydrochloride buffer solution with a pH of 7.5-8.5, normal saline, or 7-15 wt % sucrose solution.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene in mammalian cells. This method comprises treatment of introducing the foregoing siRNA into mammalian cells, thereby allowing the siRNA to sequence-specifically induce inhibition of the expression of the plk1 gene.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the treatment refers to introducing the siRNA directly, or introducing the siRNA in a form of the foregoing pharmaceutical composition containing the siRNA.

In another aspect, the present invention provides use of the foregoing siRNA and pharmaceutical composition in the preparation of drugs for treating and/or preventing tumor, wherein the tumor is breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer or colon cancer with abnormally high expression of plk1 gene.

The siRNA provided by the present invention can sequence-specifically mediate inhibition of the expression of plk1 gene and has desirable serum stability. By introducing the siRNA of the present invention into tumor cells, the expression of endogenous plk1 gene may be effectively inhibited, thereby inhibiting growth of tumor cells and promoting apoptosis of tumor cells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the detection result of the inhibitory effect of the siRNA in Example 2 on the expression level of plk1 mRNA.

FIG. 2 shows the detection result of the serum stability of the siRNA in Example 3 before and after being chemically modified.

FIG. 3 shows the detection result of the inhibitory effect of the siRNA in Example 4 before and after being chemically modified on the expression level of plk1 mRNA.

FIG. 4 shows the inhibitory effect of the pharmaceutical composition containing plk1 siRNA systemically administered via tail vein injection in Example 6 on the growth of breast cancer cells.

FIG. 5 shows the inhibitory effect of the pharmaceutical composition containing plk1 siRNA systemically administered via tail vein injection in Example 7 on the growth of cervical cancer cells.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The terms used in this specification are defined as follows.

The terms “polo-like kinase 1”, “plk1” or “plk1 kinase” refer to a kind of serine/threonine kinase which contains a kinase domain and a polo-box domain. For detailed description of the properties and functions of plk1 kinase, please refer to Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2004, 5:429. It is known now that the activity and intracellular expression level of plk1 kinase play a critical role in regulating cell mitosis. The plk1 mRNA sequence used in the present invention is the sequence of Genbank accession number NM_005030.3 (SEQ ID NO: 1).

The term “mRNA (messenger RNA)” refers to an RNA molecule which acts as a template for in vivo protein translation transferring gene encoding information from DNA to protein product.

The terms “RNA interference” or “RNAi” refer to a phenomenon of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in organisms. This phenomenon is induced by specific degradation of target mRNA mediated by single-stranded or double-stranded RNA. For details of RNAi regulation mechanism, please refer to the descriptions in Biotech. Adv. 2008, 26(3):202- and other literatures.

In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the terms “small interference/small interfering RNA” or “siRNA” refer to an RNA molecule which can sequence-specifically induce RNAi phenomenon, consists of two single-stranded RNAs with a length of 15-27 nucleotides, and has a partially or completely complementary double-stranded structure. In the siRNA according to the present invention, the length of the complementary double-stranded structure may be 17-25, 18-22 or 19-21 base pairs. The siRNA according to the present invention may be a blunt ended double-stranded RNA structure consisting of two single-stranded RNAs with a length of 15-27 nucleotides, or may also be a structure which has 3′ protruding end(s) consisting of 1-3 consecutive nucleotides at at least one end of the double-stranded structure. In the present invention, the 3′ protruding end preferably consists of two consecutive deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT or two consecutive uridine monophosphates (UMP) UU.

In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the terms “first single strand” or “sense strand” refer to one of the two single strands of the siRNA, which has a nucleotide sequence partially or completely the same as the nucleotide sequence of the action site of the siRNA in the target mRNA; while the terms “second single strand” or “antisense strand” refer to the other single strand of the two single strands of the siRNA, which has a nucleotide sequence partially or completely complementary to the nucleotide sequence of the action site of the siRNA in the target mRNA. The first single strand (or sense strand) and the corresponding second single strand (or antisense strand) of the siRNA mentioned in the present invention may form a partially or completely complementary double-stranded structure.

The term “complementary” refers to the circumstance that the bases in two nucleic acid strands form antiparallel complementary pairs according to the base paring principle of guanine G with cytosine C, and adenine A with uracil U/thymine T.

In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the terms “suppress/suppressing, inhibit/inhibiting” refer to the circumstance that mRNA degradation mediated by siRNA or other small-interfering nucleic acid (siNA) inhibitors results in significant down-regulation of target gene expression. The “significant down-regulation” refers to the circumstance that target gene expression reduces by 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 99% or more, or 100% compared with normal level or the level before treatment.

The terms “systemic administration” or “systemic delivery” refer to an administration mode which delivers pharmaceutically active ingredients such as siRNA to a wide range of tissue regions in the body. In order to achieve the effect of systemic administration, it is typically necessary for the pharmaceutically active ingredient or the pharmaceutical composition to have a relatively long blood retention time, and they should not be easily absorbed and cleared by main metabolizing organs such as liver and kidney. As the systemic administration modes of siRNA, intravenous injection, subcutaneous injection, intraperitoneal injection, oral administration and the like may be adopted. In the present invention, systemic administration of siRNA is preferably conducted by intravenous injection.

The terms “local administration” or “local delivery” refer to an administration mode which delivers pharmaceutically active ingredients such as siRNA to local tissue regions. For example, local administration of siRNA may be achieved by directly injecting or applying the pharmaceutically active ingredients such as siRNA in the diseased tissue regions. The tissue regions suitable for local administration of pharmaceutically active ingredients such as siRNA include, for example, organs and tissues such as skin, ocular vitreous cavity, liver, kidney, lung and the like.

In the present invention, the design of siRNA is carried out by using the mRNA sequence of plk1 as a template and selecting a target sequence with a length of 15-27 nucleotides aiming at the conserved region of plk1 gene to obtain the corresponding siRNA. The plk1 mRNA sequence used in the present invention is a sequence of Genbank accession number NM_005030.3 (SEQ ID NO: 1), the length thereof being 2204 nucleotides. The coding region starts from the initiation codon ATG at the 54^(th) position and ends at the termination codon TAA at the 1865^(th) position. To be specific, the siRNA of the present invention is designed pursuant to the following principles.

First of all, a sequence with a length of 15-27 nucleotides is selected in the full-length sequence range of plk1 mRNA. The sequence with a length of 15-27 nucleotides is selected mainly in accordance with the following principles: 1) The GC content is 35-60%; 2) avoiding locating in a repetitive sequence or low-complex sequence region; 3) avoiding the occurrence of 4 or more consecutive nucleotide sequences; 4) avoiding locating in a sequence region of 50-100 nucleotides containing initiation codon and termination codon of a reading frame. Besides, the composition and thermodynamic property of the nucleotide sequence shall be also analyzed, to ensure that the duplexes can be easily unwound after they enter the body, and immunoreaction shall be avoided. Afterwards, through BLAST analysis, the target site sequences of candidate siRNAs are aligned with human genome sequence in terms of identity to exclude the sequences which have a identity of 16 nucleotides or more with other genes, so as to ensure that the target site sequences of candidate siRNAs do not bear high similarity with the sequences of other irrelevant genes, thereby ensuring that the designed siRNAs merely have specific inhibition effect on the target gene plk1.

In the present invention, the design of siRNA includes the design of the first single strand which is the same as the target site in plk1 mRNA, and the design of the second single strand which is complementary to the target site in plk1 mRNA. In the present invention, the second single strand (or antisense strand) of siRNA is complementary to the target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence, and sequence-specifically induces degradation of plk1 mRNA through RNAi mechanism, thereby resulting in inhibition of the expression of plk1 gene. The first single strand and the second single strand designed by the present invention are completely complementary to each other and may form a double-stranded structure with a blunt end, i.e., without any 3′ protruding end, after annealing.

In one embodiment of the present invention, two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT are added to the 3′-end of one RNA single strand having a length of 15-27 nucleotides designed according to the foregoing principles, and the other complementary RNA single strand is also treated in the same way, adding two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT to the 3′-end thereof. In this case, after the two complementary RNA single strands are annealed to form a double-stranded structure, each of the two ends of the double-stranded structure may form a 3′ protruding end consisting of two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT respectively. In another embodiment of the present invention, two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT are added to the end of only one RNA single strand of a siRNA. In this case, after the two complementary RNA single strands are annealed to form a double-stranded structure, only one end of the double-stranded structure forms a 3′ protruding end consisting of two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT.

One RNA single strand of the siRNA of the present invention may be synthesized by solid-phase or liquid-phase nucleic acid synthesis method. These methods comprise four process steps; 1) oligonucleotide synthesis; 2) deprotection; 3) purification and separation; and 4) desalination. The technical details of the four steps are well known to those skilled in the art, and thus will not be described in detail herein.

In addition to chemical synthesis, the siRNA of the present invention may also be obtained from expression of plasmid and/or virus vector. For example, design a DNA sequence with a length of 50-90 nucleotides, and add two different restriction enzyme cutting sites at its two ends, BamHI and EcoRI restriction sites for instance. The middle-segment sequence of the RNA transcript encoded by the designed DNA may form a loop structure, and the sequences at the two ends of the loop after the U-turn may form a complementarily paired double-stranded structure. By cloning technology, the designed DNA is inserted into an expression vector digested by the corresponding restriction enzyme. The expression vector is introduced into cells, and the RNA transcript generated from the designed DNA sequence may be processed into mature siRNA by cell's inherent siRNA processing mechanism. Thereby, siRNA may be expressed temporarily or stably in cells.

The chemical modification of the siRNA conducted by the present invention may be one chemical modification or a combination of more than one chemical modification selected from the following:

-   1) Modification of phosphodiester bond connecting nucleotide     residues in the backbone structure of the RNA strands; -   2) Modification of ribose in the backbone structure of the RNA     strands; -   3) Modification of base in the nucleotide residue of the RNA.

For example, the modification of phosphate group mentioned in the present invention refers to modification of oxygen in the phosphate group, including phosphorthioate modification and boranophosphate modification. As shown in the formulae below, the oxygen in the phosphate group is replaced by sulfur and borane, respectively. Both modifications can stabilize the structure of nucleic acid and maintain high specificity and high affinity of base pairing.

In the present invention, the modification of ribose group refers to modification of 2′-hydroxy (2′-OH) in the ribose group. Upon introducing certain substituents such as methoxy or fluoro at 2′-hydroxy position of the ribose group, ribonuclease in serum cannot easily digest nucleic acid, thereby improving the stability of the nucleic acid and allowing the nucleic acid to have stronger resistance against nuclease hydrolysis. The modification of 2′-hydroxy in the pentose of the nucleotide includes 2′-fluoro modification, 2′-methoxy modification, 2′-methoxyethoxy modification, 2′-2,4-dinitrophenol modification (2′-DNP modification), locked nucleic acid modification (LNA modification), 2′-amino modification, 2′-deoxy modification, etc.

In the present invention, the modification of base refers to modification of the base in the nucleotide group. For example, 5′-bromo-uracil modification and 5′-iodo-uracil modification with bromine or iodine being introduced at 5-position of uracil are common modification methods for base. Modifications such as N3-methyl-uracil modification, 2,6-diaminopurine modification are also available.

In the present invention, the nucleotide group with a modified ribose group is preferably a nucleotide group in which the 2′-hydroxy of the ribose group is substituted by methoxy or fluorine. Modified siRNAs have stronger resistance against nuclease enzymolysis, while their activity of inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene will not be obviously changed due to the modification.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in order to promote lipid solubility of siRNA, lipophilic groups such as cholesterol, lipoprotein, vitamin E and aliphatic chain may be introduced at the 5′-end or 3′-end of the sense strand of the siRNA. These lipophilic groups may bind to siRNA via covalent bond. Alternatively, the lipophilic groups may also bind to siRNA via non-covalent bond. For example, siRNA binds to a neutral phospholipid molecule, polypeptide, polysaccharide and the like via hydrophobic bond or ionic bond. It is known that the introduction of lipophilic groups to siRNA via covalent binding or non-covalent binding may improve the in vivo stability, blood metabolic performance and bioactivity of siRNA. In one embodiment of the present invention, the 5′-end and/or 3′-end of the first single strand (or sense strand) of the siRNA are attached with a 5′-cap and/or 3′-cap. The 5′-cap and/or 3′-cap structures may help siRNA resist the attack of exonuclease and thereby improve the in vivo stability of siRNA. The 5′-cap and/or 3′-cap may include, but is not limited to glycerol, inverted deoxy abasic isonucleoside (inverted deoxy abasic moiety), 4′,5′-methylene nucleotide and the like. In one embodiment of the present invention, the 5′-end of the second single strand (or antisense strand) of the siRNA is attached with a phosphate group. It is known that the phosphate group at the 5′-end of the antisense strand of a siRNA may improve the activity of the siRNA.

In the present invention, the siRNA which inhibits the expression of plk1 gene may form a pharmaceutical composition with a vector system which assists in the in vivo delivery of drugs, and be applied in mammalian bodies in a form of a pharmaceutical composition. The vector system includes, but is not limited to a cationic ingredient, a non-cationic ingredient and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. In the present invention, the cationic ingredient may be, but is not limited to positively charged polypeptide or protein, cationic lipid, positively charged polymer, and the like. The positively charged polypeptide or protein may be for example, oligomeric arginine, oligomeric lysine, protamine and the like. The cationic lipid may be at least one of the cationic lipids selected from dimethyl di(octadecyl)ammonium bromide (DDAB), 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane (DOTAP), 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane methylsulfate, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane, 1,2-distearyl-3-trimethylammonium propane, N-(1-(2,3-dioleyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride (DOTMA), dimyristoyl-oxo-propyl-dimethyl-hydroxyethyl ammonium bromide (DMRIE), (1,2-dioleyloxypropyl)-3-dimethyl-hydroxyethyl ammonium bromide (DORIE), dimethyl didodecyl ammonium bromide, N-(a-trimethyl-ammonium acetyl)-didodecyl-D-glutamine hydrochloride, N-(a-trimethyl-ammonium acetyl)-O,O′-bis-(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-decyl)-L-glutamine hydrochloride, O,O′-dilauroyl-N-(a-trimethyl-ammonium acetyl)diethanolamine hydrochloride, methylallyl didodecyl ammonium bromide, N-{p-(w-trimethyl-ammonium-butyl-oxo)-benzoyl}-didodecyl-L-glutamine hydrochloride, 9-(w-trimethyl-ammonium-butyl)-3,6-dilauroyl carbazole bromide, dimethyl-dioctadecyl ammonium hydrochloride, N-w-trimethyl-ammonium-decanoyl-dihexadecyl-D-glutamine bromide, N-{p-(w-trimethyl-ammonium-hexyl-oxo)-benzoyl}-dimyristyl)-L-glutamine bromide, p-(w-trimethyl-ammonium-decyl-oxo)-p′-octyloxy-azobenzene bromide salt (MC-1-0810), p-{w-(b-hydroxy-ethyl)dimethyl-ammonium-decyl-oxo}-p′-octyloxy-azobenzene bromide salt (MC-3-0810), O,O′,O″-tris(lauroyl)-N-(w-trimethyl-ammonium decanoyl)-tris(hydroxyl-methyl) aminomethane bromide salt (TC-1-12), 1,2-dilauryl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, 1,2-dimyristoyl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, 1,2-distearoyl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, 1,2-dioleoyl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine, N,N-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide (BHEM-Chol), (2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl-trimethylammonium chloride (DOTAP) and N-(1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride. The positively charged polymer may be at least one of the positively charged polymers selected from polyethylenimine, poly β-amino ester and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt. In the present invention, the preferred cationic ingredient is N,N-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide, (2,3-dioleoyloxypropyl) trimethylammonium chloride, N-(1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride, or poly β-amino ester of polycaprolactone-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) block copolymer type.

In the pharmaceutical composition described in the present invention, the non-cationic ingredient may be, but is not limited to neutral fusogenic lipid, anionic lipid, amphiphilic polymer and the like. The fusogenic lipid may be for example, dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine, dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine, trans phosphatidylethanolamine, 1,2-bis(10,12-tricosane-diacyl)-ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-bis-rac-oleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dihexadecyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dicaproyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dilauroyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dilinoleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dimyristoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dipalmitoleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-diphytanoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-distearoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1-palmitoyl-2-(10,12-tricosane-diacyl)ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-hexanamide, 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-hexanamide, N,N-dimethyl-1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, N,N-dimethyl-1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate, N-lauroyl-1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate, N-lauroyl-1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-dodecyl amine, 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-dodecyl amine, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-glutaryl, 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-glutaryl, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-lactose, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[4 (p-maleimide-methyl)cyclohexanyl-carboxylate], dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[4-(p-maleimide-methyl)cyclohexanyl-carboxylate], 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[4-(p-maleimide phenyl) butyramide], 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[4-(p-maleimide phenyl)butyrate], N-methyl-1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, N-methyl-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate, 1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate, 1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate-N-[3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate], N-(succinyl)-1,2-dioleoyl ethanolamine phosphate, N-(succinyl)-1,2-dipalmitoyl ethanolamine phosphate and the like. For the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention, by containing the foregoing fusogenic lipids, the transport and delivery efficiencies of the pharmaceutical composition in mammalian bodies can be further increased. The amphiphilic polymer may be for example, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid diblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid triblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) diblock copolymer, or polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) triblock copolymer, polycaprolactone-polyphosphoester diblock copolymer, polycaprolactone-polyphosphoester triblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone diblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone triblock copolymer, wherein in the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention, dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine, or polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid block copolymer are preferably to be used as the non-cationic ingredient.

In the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention, the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier may be phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with a pH of 4.0-9.0, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane hydrochloride buffer solution with a pH of 7.5-8.5, normal saline, or 7-15% sucrose solution, wherein phosphate buffer solution (PBS) with a pH of 4.0-9.0 is preferred to be used as the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier of the present invention. The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention may also contain a protective agent and/or an osmotic pressure regulator. The protective agent is one or more selected from inositol, sorbitol and sucrose. The osmotic pressure regulator may be sodium chloride and/or potassium chloride. Taking pharmaceutical compositions in a form of liquid preparation for injection for example, the content of the protective agent may be 0.01-30 wt %. There is no particular limitation to the content of the osmotic pressure regulator, as long as it can maintain the osmotic pressure of the liquid preparation at 200-700 milliosmol/kg. When the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention in the form of liquid preparation is applied to animal or human individuals, its dosage may be a dosage commonly used in the art. For example, the dose for a single injection may be in the range of 1-10 g/kg body weight. During actual use, the dosage selection may be determined based on various parameters, particularly based on the age, body weight and symptoms of the animal or human individuals to be treated.

In the present invention, the pharmaceutical composition with the siRNA as an active ingredient may also contain an auxiliary ingredient which may enhance the stability of the pharmaceutical composition, maintain and enhance the inhibitory effect of the siRNA, and promote the metabolic performance and tissue targeting property of the pharmaceutical composition. The auxiliary ingredient may be, but is not limited to one or more selected from cholesterol, polypeptide, protein, polysaccharide, aliphatic chain, neutral phospholipid, and polyethylene glycol-lipid (PEG-lipid). There is no particular limitation to the content of the auxiliary ingredient in the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention, as long as it can enhance the stability, blood metabolic performance and target delivery effect of the pharmaceutical composition.

The method provided according to the present invention for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene in mammalian cells comprises introducing the abovementioned siRNA which inhibits the expression of plk1 gene into mammalian cells, thereby allowing the introduced siRNA to sequence-specifically induce inhibition of the expression of plk1 gene.

In the present invention, when introducing siRNA into cells in vitro, a known method may be adopted. Common methods for introducing siRNA in vitro include electroporation method, microinjection method, calcium phosphate method, DEAE-dextran method, virus encapsulating method and liposome encapsulating method, wherein liposome encapsulating method has become a conventional in vitro introducing method for siRNA. In the present invention, as the liposome, commercial cationic liposome such as Lipofectamine 2000 (made by Invitrogen), Oligofectamine (made by Invitrogen) and Tfx50 (made by Promega) may be used. There is no particular limitation to the mixing ratio of the siRNA and the cationic liposome, as long as introduction can be effectively performed and no dose toxicity is exerted to the cells. For example, relative to 100 parts by weight of siRNA, the content of the cationic liposome may be 100-10000000 parts by weight. In the present invention, there are two methods for introducing siRNA into the cells in mammalian bodies. The first method is to directly introduce naked siRNA to easily accessible cells of skin tissue, ocular tissue, lung tissue and the like; and the second method is to systemically delivery siRNA in the form of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention.

EXAMPLES

The present invention will be illustrated in conjunction with the Examples hereinafter. Unless otherwise specified, the reagents, culture media and other experimental materials used in the present invention are all commercial products.

Example 1 Design and Synthesis of siRNA

Against the mRNA sequence of human plk1 (Genbank accession number: NM_005030.3, SEQ ID NO: 1), according to the foregoing design principles, 132 siRNAs were obtained. The sequences of the obtained siRNAs are shown in Table 1, wherein 127 siRNAs (PLK-1˜PLK-127) are distributed in the coding region of plk1 gene and the last 5 siRNAs (PLK-128˜PLK-132) are distributed in the 3′ untranslated region of plk1 gene. In Table 1, the sequences of the sense strand and the complementary antisense strand of each siRNA are listed, respectively. To be specific, for example, the sense strand of siRNA PLK-1 has a sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 which is the same as the corresponding target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence; and the antisense strand has a sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 134 which is complementary to the corresponding target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence. The sequences of the two single strands of each of the other siRNAs are numbered successively in the same way as applied to siRNA PLK-1.

TABLE 1 siRNA sequences against human mRNA Corresponding target site SEQ sequence in ID Nucleotide human mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM_005030.3) PLK-1 2 GCUCCACCGGCGAAAGAGA 153-171 134 UCUCUUUCGCCGGUGGAGC PLK-2 3 CCAAGUGCUUCGAGAUCUC 247-265 135 GAGAUCUCGAAGCACUUGG PLK-3 4 GUGCUUCGAGAUCUCGGAC 251-269 136 GUCCGAGAUCUCGAAGCAC PLK-4 5 UCUCGGACGCGGACACCAA 262-280 137 UUGGUGUCCGCGUCCGAGA PLK-5 6 CAAGAUUGUGCCUAAGUCU 296-314 138 AGACUUAGGCACAAUCUUG PLK-6 7 GAUUGUGCCUAAGUCUCUG 299-317 139 CAGAGACUUAGGCACAAUC PLK-7 8 CUAAGUCUCUGCUGCUCAA 307-325 140 UUGAGCAGCAGAGACUUAG PLK-8 9 AAGCCGCACCAGAGGGAGA 324-342 141 UCUCCCUCUGGUGCGGCUU PLK-9 10 GAUGUCCAUGGAAAUAUCC 344-362 142 GGAUAUUUCCAUGGACAUC PLK-10 11 AUGGAAAUAUCCAUUCACC 351-369 143 GGUGAAUGGAUAUUUCCAU PLK-11 12 GAAAUAUCCAUUCACCGCA 354-372 144 UGCGGUGAAUGGAUAUUUC PLK-12 13 AUAUCCAUUCACCGCAGCC 357-375 145 GGCUGCGGUGAAUGGAUAU PLK-13 14 ACCAGCACGUCGUAGGAUU 382-400 146 AAUCCUACGACGUGCUGGU PLK-14 15 UCGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUU 391-409 147 AAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACGA PLK-15 16 CGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUUU 392-410 148 AAAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACG PLK-16 17 CGACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUG 422-440 149 CACCACGAACACGAAGUCG PLK-17 18 ACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUGUU 424-442 150 AACACCACGAACACGAAGU PLK-18 19 GCUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAA 473-491 151 UUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAGC PLK-19 20 CUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAAG 474-492 152 CUUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAG PLK-20 21 GGAGGAAAGCCCUGACUGA 484-502 153 UCAGUCAGGGCUUUCCUCC PLK-21 22 CCGAUACUACCUACGGCAA 512-530 154 UUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUCGG PLK-22 23 CGAUACUACCUACGGCAAA 513-531 155 UUUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUCG PLK-23 24 GAUACUACCUACGGCAAAU 514-532 156 AUUUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUC PLK-24 25 CCUACGGCAAAUUGUGCUU 521-539 157 AAGCACAAUUUGCCGUAGG PLK-25 26 AUUGUGCUUGGCUGCCAGU 531-549 158 ACUGGCAGCCAAGCACAAU PLK-26 27 GCCAGUACCUGCACCGAAA 544-562 159 UUUCGGUGCAGGUACUGGC PLK-27 28 CUGCACCGAAACCGAGUUA 552-570 160 UAACUCGGUUUCGGUGCAG PLK-28 29 GCACCGAAACCGAGUUAUU 554-572 161 AAUAACUCGGUUUCGGUGC PLK-29 30 CCGAAACCGAGUUAUUCAU 557-575 162 AUGAAUAACUCGGUUUCGG PLK-30 31 AAACCGAGUUAUUCAUCGA 560-578 163 UCGAUGAAUAACUCGGUUU PLK-31 32 ACCGAGUUAUUCAUCGAGA 562-580 164 UCUCGAUGAAUAACUCGGU PLK-32 33 AGUUAUUCAUCGAGACCUC 566-584 165 GAGGUCUCGAUGAAUAACU PLK-33 34 GAGACCUCAAGCUGGGCAA 577-595 166 UUGCCCAGCUUGAGGUCUC PLK-34 35 UGAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGU 604-622 167 ACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUCA PLK-35 36 GAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUG 605-623 168 CACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUC PLK-36  37 AUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAA 607-625 169 UUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCAU PLK-37  38 UGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAAA 608-626 170 UUUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCA PLK-38  39 GGCAACCAAAGUCGAAUAU 644-662 171 AUAUUCGACUUUGGUUGCC PLK-39  40 CAACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGA 646-664 172 UCAUAUUCGACUUUGGUUG PLK-40  41 ACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACG 648-666 173 CGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGGU PLK-41  42 CCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACGG 649-667 174 CCGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGG PLK-42  43 AGUCGAAUAUGACGGGGAG 653-671 175 CUCCCCGUCAUAUUCGACU PLK-43  44 UAUGACGGGGAGAGGAAGA 660-678 176 UCUUCCUCUCCCCGUCAUA PLK-44  45 CUGUGUGGGACUCCUAAUU 684-702 177 AAUUAGGAGUCCCACACAG PLK-45 46 GUGGGACUCCUAAUUACAU 688-706 178 AUGUAAUUAGGAGUCCCAC PLK-46  47 UGGGACUCCUAAUUACAUA 689-707 179 UAUGUAAUUAGGAGUCCCA PLK-47  48 GACUCCUAAUUACAUAGCU 692-710 180 AGCUAUGUAAUUAGGAGUC PLK-48  49 CUAAUUACAUAGCUCCCGA 697-715 181 UCGGGAGCUAUGUAAUUAG PLK-49  50 UUACAUAGCUCCCGAGGUG 701-719 182 CACCUCGGGAGCUAUGUAA PLK-50  51 GCAAGAAAGGGCACAGUUU 724-742 183 AAACUGUGCCCUUUCUUGC PLK-51  52 GAAAGGGCACAGUUUCGAG 728-746 184 CUCGAAACUGUGCCCUUUC PLK-52  53 CCAUUGGGUGUAUCAUGUA 760-778 185 UACAUGAUACACCCAAUGG PLK-53  54 CAUUGGGUGUAUCAUGUAU 761-779 186 AUACAUGAUACACCCAAUG PLK-54  55 GGUGUAUCAUGUAUACCUU 766-784 187 AAGGUAUACAUGAUACACC PLK-55  56 AUCAUGUAUACCUUGUUAG 771-789 188 CUAACAAGGUAUACAUGAU PLK-56  57 AUGUAUACCUUGUUAGUGG 774-792 189 CCACUAACAAGGUAUACAU PLK-57  58 AUACCUUGUUAGUGGGCAA 778-796 190 UUGCCCACUAACAAGGUAU PLK-58  59 CUUGUUAGUGGGCAAACCA 782-800 191 UGGUUUGCCCACUAACAAG PLK-59 60 UUUGAGACUUCUUGCCUAA 804-822 192 UUAGGCAAGAAGUCUCAAA PLK-60 61 AGAGACCUACCUCCGGAUC 824-842 193 GAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUCU PLK-61 62 GAGACCUACCUCCGGAUCA 825-843 194 UGAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUC PLK-62 63 CCUCCGGAUCAAGAAGAAU 833-851 195 AUUCUUCUUGAUCCGGAGG PLK-63 64 CCGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAA 836-854 196 UUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCGG PLK-64 65 CGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAU 837-855 197 AUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCG PLK-65 66 GGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUA 838-856 198 UAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCC PLK-66 67 GAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUAC 839-857 199 GUAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUC PLK-67 68 CAAGAAGAAUGAAUACAGU 842-860 200 ACUGUAUUCAUUCUUCUUG PLK-68 69 GAAGAAUGAAUACAGUAUU 845-863 201 AAUACUGUAUUCAUUCUUC PLK-69 70 GAAUGAAUACAGUAUUCCC 848-866 202 GGGAAUACUGUAUUCAUUC PLK-70 71 UGAAUACAGUAUUCCCAAG 851-869 203 CUUGGGAAUACUGUAUUCA PLK-71 72 UACAGUAUUCCCAAGCACA  855-873 204 UGUGCUUGGGAAUACUGUA PLK-72 73 GUAUUCCCAAGCACAUCAA 859-877 205 UUGAUGUGCUUGGGAAUAC PLK-73 74 GAUGCUUCAGACAGAUCCC 905-923 206 GGGAUCUGUCUGAAGCAUC PLK-74 75 CAACCAUUAACGAGCUGCU  934-952 207 AGCAGCUCGUUAAUGGUUG PLK-75 76 CCAUUAACGAGCUGCUUAA 937-955 208 UUAAGCAGCUCGUUAAUGG PLK-76 77 CGAGCUGCUUAAUGACGAG 944-962 209 CUCGUCAUUAAGCAGCUCG PLK-77 78 GCUUAAUGACGAGUUCUUU 950-968 210 AAAGAACUCGUCAUUAAGC PLK-78 79 CUUAAUGACGAGUUCUUUA 951-969 211 UAAAGAACUCGUCAUUAAG PLK-79 80 UGACGAGUUCUUUACUUCU 956-974 212 AGAAGUAAAGAACUCGUCA PLK-80 81 GAGUUCUUUACUUCUGGCU 960-978 213 AGCCAGAAGUAAAGAACUC PLK-81  82 GUUCUUUACUUCUGGCUAU 962-980 214 AUAGCCAGAAGUAAAGAAC PLK-82  83 CUUUACUUCUGGCUAUAUC 965-983 215 GAUAUAGCCAGAAGUAAAG PLK-83  84 GACCAUUCCACCAAGGUUU 1010-1028 216 AAACCUUGGUGGAAUGGUC PLK-84  85 CCCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAA 1069-1087 217 UUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGGG PLK-85  86 CCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAAA 1070-1088 218 UUUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGG PLK-86  87 CAGUCCUCAAUAAAGGCUU 1075-1093 219 AAGCCUUUAUUGAGGACUG PLK-87  88 CUCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGA 1080-1098 220 UCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGAG PLK-88  89 UCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAA 1081-1099 221 UUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGA PLK-89  90 CAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAAC 1082-1100 222 GUUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUG PLK-90  91 UAAAGGCUUGGAGAACCCC 1085-1103 223 GGGGUUCUCCAAGCCUUUA PLK-91  92 AGAAGAACCAGUGGUUCGA 1127-1145 224 UCGAACCACUGGUUCUUCU PLK-92  93 GAACCAGUGGUUCGAGAGA 1131-1149 225 UCUCUCGAACCACUGGUUC PLK-93  94 CCAGUGGUUCGAGAGACAG 1134-1152 226 CUGUCUCUCGAACCACUGG PLK-94  95 AGACAGGUGAGGUGGUCGA 1147-1165 227 UCGACCACCUCACCUGUCU PLK-95  96 GGCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGA 1240-1258 228 UCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGCC PLK-96  97 GCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAU 1241-1259 229 AUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGC PLK-97  98 AAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAUCC 1243-1261 230 GGAUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUU PLK-98  99 CCAUCUUCUGGGUCAGCAA 1273-1291 231 UUGCUGACCCAGAAGAUGG PLK-99  100 UCAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUA 1285-1303 232 UAGUCCACCCACUUGCUGA PLK-100 101 CAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUAU 1286-1304 233 AUAGUCCACCCACUUGCUG PLK-101 102 GCAAGUGGGUGGACUAUUC 1288-1306 234 GAAUAGUCCACCCACUUGC PLK-102 103 GGACUAUUCGGACAAGUAC 1298-1316 235 GUACUUGUCCGAAUAGUCC PLK-103 104 GGUAUCAGCUCUGUGAUAA 1324-1342 236 UUAUCACAGAGCUGAUACC PLK-104 105 GGUGCUCUUCAAUGACUCA 1352-1370 237 UGAGUCAUUGAAGAGCACC PLK-105 106 GCUCUUCAAUGACUCAACA 1355-1373 238 UGUUGAGUCAUUGAAGAGC PLK-106 107 UGACUCAACACGCCUCAUC 1364-1382 239 GAUGAGGCGUGUUGAGUCA PLK-107 108 CACGCCUCAUCCUCUACAA 1372-1390 240 UUGUAGAGGAUGAGGCGUG PLK-108 109 CUACAAUGAUGGUGACAGC 1385-1403 241 GCUGUCACCAUCAUUGUAG PLK-109 110 GGUGACAGCCUGCAGUACA 1395-1413 242 UGUACUGCAGGCUGUCACC PLK-110 111 GUGACAGCCUGCAGUACAU 1396-1414 243 AUGUACUGCAGGCUGUCAC PLK-111 112 CCCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGA 1458-1476 244 UCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGGG PLK-112 113 CCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGAA 1459-1477 245 UUCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGG PLK-113 114 ACUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAU 1462-1480 246 AUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAGU PLK-114 115 CUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAUC 1463-1481 247 GAUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAG PLK-115 116 GAAGAAGAUCACCCUCCUU 1472-1490 248 AAGGAGGGUGAUCUUCUUC PLK-116 117 GAAGAUCACCCUCCUUAAA 1475-1493 249 UUUAAGGAGGGUGAUCUUC PLK-117 118 GAUCACCCUCCUUAAAUAU 1478-1496 250 AUAUUUAAGGAGGGUGAUC PLK-118 119 AUAUUUCCGCAAUUACAUG 1493-1511 251 CAUGUAAUUGCGGAAAUAU PLK-119 120 UUACAUGAGCGAGCACUUG 1505-1523 252 CAAGUGCUCGCUCAUGUAA PLK-120 121 GCAGCGUGCAGAUCAACUU 1636-1654 253 AAGUUGAUCUGCACGCUGC PLK-121 122 GCGUGCAGAUCAACUUCUU 1639-1657 254 AAGAAGUUGAUCUGCACGC PLK-122 123 AGAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGA 1645-1663 255 UCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUCU PLK-123 124 GAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGAU 1646-1664 256 AUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUC PLK-124 125 UCAACUUCUUCCAGGAUCA 1648-1666 257 UGAUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGA PLK-125 126 CUUCUUCCAGGAUCACACC 1652-1670 258 GGUGUGAUCCUGGAAGAAG PLK-126 127 GAUCACACCAAGCUCAUCU 1662-1680 259 AGAUGAGCUUGGUGUGAUC PLK-127 128 UGAUGGCAGCCGUGACCUA 1690-1708 260 UAGGUCACGGCUGCCAUCA PLK-128 129 GCAGAGCUGCAUCAUCCUU 1982-2000 261 AAGGAUGAUGCAGCUCUGC PLK-129 130 CCCACCAUAUGAAUUGUAC 2081-2099 262 GUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGGG PLK-130 131 CCACCAUAUGAAUUGUACA 2082-2100 263 UGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGG PLK-131 132 CACCAUAUGAAUUGUACAG 2083-2101 264 CUGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUG PLK-132 133 UCCUUUCCUUGGCUUUAUG 2127-2145 265 CAUAAAGCCAAGGAAAGGA

The foregoing 132 siRNAs were further analyzed according to species homology and 12 human-mouse homologous siRNA sequences were obtained. The result is shown in Table 2. Likewise, 11 human-rat homologous siRNA sequences, 105 human-macaque homologous siRNA sequences and 119 human-chimpanzee homologous siRNA sequences were obtained. These results are shown in Table 3˜Table 5, respectively.

TABLE 2 Human-mouse homologous siRNA sequences Corresponding Corresponding target site target site SEQ sequence in sequence in ID Nucleotide human mRNA mouse mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM_005030.3) (NM_011121.3) PLK-60  61 AGAGACCUACCUCCGGAUC 824-842 877-895 193 GAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUCU PLK-61  62 GAGACCUACCUCCGGAUCA 825-843 878-896 194 UGAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUC PLK-70  71 UGAAUACAGUAUUCCCAAG 851-869 904-922 203 CUUGGGAAUACUGUAUUCA PLK-71  72 UACAGUAUUCCCAAGCACA 855-873 908-926 204 UGUGCUUGGGAAUACUGUA PLK-72  73 GUAUUCCCAAGCACAUCAA 859-877 912-930 205 UUGAUGUGCUUGGGAAUAC PLK-95  96 GGCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGA 1240-1258 1293-1311 228 UCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGCC PLK-96  97 GCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAU 1241-1259 1294-1312 229 AUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGC PLK-97  98 AAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAUCC 1243-1261 1296-1314 230 GGAUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUU PLK-98  99 CCAUCUUCUGGGUCAGCAA 1273-1291 1326-1344 231 UUGCUGACCCAGAAGAUGG PLK-99 100 UCAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUA 1285-1303 1338-1356 232 UAGUCCACCCACUUGCUGA PLK-100 101 CAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUAU 1286-1304 1339-1357 233 AUAGUCCACCCACUUGCUG PLK-101 102 GCAAGUGGGUGGACUAUUC 1288-1306 1341-1359 234 GAAUAGUCCACCCACUUGC

TABLE 3 Human-rat homologous siRNA sequences Corresponding Corresponding target site target site SEQ sequence in sequence in ID Nucleotide human mRNA rat mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM005030.3) (NM_017100.1) PLK-60 61 AGAGACCUACCUCCGGAUC 824-842 865-883 193 GAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUCU PLK-61 62 GAGACCUACCUCCGGAUCA 825-843 866-884 194 UGAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUC PLK-70 71 UGAAUACAGUAUUCCCAAG 851-869 892-910 203 CUUGGGAAUACUGUAUUCA PLK-71 72 UACAGUAUUCCCAAGCACA 855-873 896-914 204 UGUGCUUGGGAAUACUGUA PLK-72 73 GUAUUCCCAAGCACAUCAA 859-877 900-918 205 UUGAUGUGCUUGGGAAUAC PLK-106 107 UGACUCAACACGCCUCAUC 1364-1382 1405-1423 239 GAUGAGGCGUGUUGAGUCA PLK-107 108 CACGCCUCAUCCUCUACAA 1372-1390 1413-1431 240 UUGUAGAGGAUGAGGCGUG PLK-111 112 CCCAACUCCUUGAUCAAGA 1458-1476 1499-1517 244 UCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGGG PLK-112 113 CCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGAA 1459-1477 1500-1518 245 UUCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGG PLK-113 114 ACUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAU 1462-1480 1503-1521 246 AUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAGU PLK-114 115 CUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAUC 1463-1481 1504-1522 247 GAUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAG

TABLE 4 Human-macaque homologous siRNA sequences Corresponding Corresponding target site target site SEQ sequence in sequence in ID Nucleotide human mRNA macaque mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM_005030.3) (XM_001092070.2) PLK-1 2 GCUCCACCGGCGAAAGAGA 153-171 376-394 134 UCUCUUUCGCCGGUGGAGC PLK-2 3 CCAAGUGCUUCGAGAUCUC 247-265 470-488 135 GAGAUCUCGAAGCACUUGG PLK-3 4 GUGCUUCGAGAUCUCGGAC 251-269 474-492 136 GUCCGAGAUCUCGAAGCAC PLK-4 5 UCUCGGACGCGGACACCAA 262-280 485-503 137 UUGGUGUCCGCGUCCGAGA PLK-5 6 CAAGAUUGUGCCUAAGUCU 296-314 519-537 138 AGACUUAGGCACAAUCUUG PLK-6 7 GAUUGUGCCUAAGUCUCUG 299-317 522-540 139 CAGAGACUUAGGCACAAUC PLK-8 9 AAGCCGCACCAGAGGGAGA 324-342 547-565 141 UCUCCCUCUGGUGCGGCUU PLK-9 10 GAUGUCCAUGGAAAUAUCC 344-362 567-585 142 GGAUAUUUCCAUGGACAUC PLK-10 11 AUGGAAAUAUCCAUUCACC 351-369 574-592 143 GGUGAAUGGAUAUUUCCAU PLK-11 12 GAAAUAUCCAUUCACCGCA 354-372 577-595 144 UGCGGUGAAUGGAUAUUUC PLK-12 13 AUAUCCAUUCACCGCAGCC 357-375 580-598 145 GGCUGCGGUGAAUGGAUAU PLK-13 14 ACCAGCACGUCGUAGGAUU 382-400 605-623 146 AAUCCUACGACGUGCUGGU PLK-14 15 UCGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUU 391-409 614-632 147 AAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACGA PLK-15 16 CGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUUU 392-410 615-633 148 AAAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACG PLK-16 17 CGACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUG 422-440 645-663 149 CACCACGAACACGAAGUCG PLK-17 18 ACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUGUU 424-442 647-665 150 AACACCACGAACACGAAGU PLK-18 19 GCUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAA 473-491 696-714 151 UUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAGC PLK-19 20 CUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAAG 474-492 697-715 152 CUUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAG PLK-20 21 GGAGGAAAGCCCUGACUGA 484-502 707-725 153 UCAGUCAGGGCUUUCCUCC PLK-27 28 CUGCACCGAAACCGAGUUA 552-570 775-793 160 UAACUCGGUUUCGGUGCAG PLK-28 29 GCACCGAAACCGAGUUAUU 554-572 777-795 161 AAUAACUCGGUUUCGGUGC PLK-33 34 GAGACCUCAAGCUGGGCAA 577-595 800-818 166 UUGCCCAGCUUGAGGUCUC PLK-34  35 UGAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGU 604-622 827-845 167 ACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUCA PLK-35  36 GAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUG 605-623 828-846 168 CACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUC PLK-36  37 AUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAA 607-625 830-848 169 UUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCAU PLK-37  38 UGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAAA 608-626 831-849 170 UUUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCA PLK-38  39 GGCAACCAAAGUCGAAUAU 644-662 867-885 171 AUAUUCGACUUUGGUUGCC PLK-39 40 CAACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGA 646-664 869-887 172 UCAUAUUCGACUUUGGUUG PLK-40  41 ACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACG 648-666 871-889 173 CGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGGU PLK-41  42 CCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACGG 649-667 872-890 174 CCGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGG PLK-42  43 AGUCGAAUAUGACGGGGAG 653-671 876-894 175 CUCCCCGUCAUAUUCGACU PLK-43  44 UAUGACGGGGAGAGGAAGA 660-678 883-901 176 UCUUCCUCUCCCCGUCAUA PLK-47 48 GACUCCUAAUUACAUAGCU 692-710 915-933 180 AGCUAUGUAAUUAGGAGUC PLK-48  49 CUAAUUACAUAGCUCCCGA 697-715 920-938 181 UCGGGAGCUAUGUAAUUAG PLK-49  50 UUACAUAGCUCCCGAGGUG 701-719 924-942 182 CACCUCGGGAGCUAUGUAA PLK-50  51 GCAAGAAAGGGCACAGUUU 724-742 947-965 183 AAACUGUGCCCUUUCUUGC PLK-51 52 GAAAGGGCACAGUUUCGAG 728-746 951-969 184 CUCGAAACUGUGCCCUUUC PLK-54  55 GGUGUAUCAUGUAUACCUU 766-784  989-1007 187 AAGGUAUACAUGAUACACC PLK-55  56 AUCAUGUAUACCUUGUUAG 771-789  994-1012 188 CUAACAAGGUAUACAUGAU PLK-56  57 AUGUAUACCUUGUUAGUGG 774-792  997-1015 189 CCACUAACAAGGUAUACAU PLK-57  58 AUACCUUGUUAGUGGGCAA 778-796 1001-1019 190 UUGCCCACUAACAAGGUAU PLK-58  59 CUUGUUAGUGGGCAAACCA 782-800 1005-1023 191 UGGUUUGCCCACUAACAAG PLK-59  60 UUUGAGACUUCUUGCCUAA 804-822 1027-1045 192 UUAGGCAAGAAGUCUCAAA PLK-60 61 AGAGACCUACCUCCGGAUC 824-842 1047-1065 193 GAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUCU PLK-61  62 GAGACCUACCUCCGGAUCA  825-843 1048-1066 194 UGAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUC PLK-62  63 CCUCCGGAUCAAGAAGAAU 833-851 1056-1074 195 AUUCUUCUUGAUCCGGAGG PLK-63  64 CCGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAA 836-854 1059-1077 196 UUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCGG PLK-64  65 CGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAU 837-855 1060-1078 197 AUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCG PLK-65  66 GGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUA 838-856 1061-1079 198 UAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCC PLK-66  67 GAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUAC 839-857 1062-1080 199 GUAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUC PLK-67  68 CAAGAAGAAUGAAUACAGU 842-860 1065-1083 200 ACUGUAUUCAUUCUUCUUG PLK-68  69 GAAGAAUGAAUACAGUAUU 845-863 1068-1086 201 AAUACUGUAUUCAUUCUUC PLK-69  70 GAAUGAAUACAGUAUUCCC 848-866 1071-1089 202 GGGAAUACUGUAUUCAUUC PLK-70  71 UGAAUACAGUAUUCCCAAG 851-869 1074-1092 203 CUUGGGAAUACUGUAUUCA PLK-71  72 UACAGUAUUCCCAAGCACA 855-873 1078-1096 204 UGUGCUUGGGAAUACUGUA PLK-72  73 GUAUUCCCAAGCACAUCAA 859-877 1082-1100 205 UUGAUGUGCUUGGGAAUAC PLK-73  74 GAUGCUUCAGACAGAUCCC 905-923 1128-1146 206 GGGAUCUGUCUGAAGCAUC PLK-80  81 GAGUUCUUUACUUCUGGCU 960-978 1183-1201 213 AGCCAGAAGUAAAGAACUC PLK-81  82 GUUCUUUACUUCUGGCUAU 962-980 1185-1203 214 AUAGCCAGAAGUAAAGAAC PLK-82  83 CUUUACUUCUGGCUAUAUC 965-983 1188-1206 215 GAUAUAGCCAGAAGUAAAG PLK-84  85 CCCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAA 1069-1087 1292-1310 217 UUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGGG PLK-85  86 CCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAAA 1070-1088 1293-1311 218 UUUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGG PLK-86  87 CAGUCCUCAAUAAAGGCUU 1075-1093 1298-1316 219 AAGCCUUUAUUGAGGACUG PLK-87  88 CUCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGA 1080-1098 1303-1321 220 UCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGAG PLK-88  89 UCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAA 1081-1099 1304-1322 221 UUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGA PLK-89  90 CAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAAC 1082-1100 1305-1323 222 GUUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUG PLK-90  91 UAAAGGCUUGGAGAACCCC 1085-1103 1308-1326 223 GGGGUUCUCCAAGCCUUUA PLK-92  93 GAACCAGUGGUUCGAGAGA 1131-1149 1354-1372 225 UCUCUCGAACCACUGGUUC PLK-93  94 CCAGUGGUUCGAGAGACAG 1134-1152 1357-1375 226 CUGUCUCUCGAACCACUGG PLK-94  95 AGACAGGUGAGGUGGUCGA 1147-1165 1370-1388 227 UCGACCACCUCACCUGUCU PLK-95  96 GGCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGA 1240-1258 1463-1481 228 UCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGCC PLK-96  97 GCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAU 1241-1259 1464-1482 229 AUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGC PLK-97 98 AAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAUCC 1243-1261 1466-1484 230 GGAUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUU PLK-98  99 CCAUCUUCUGGGUCAGCAA 1273-1291 1496-1514 231 UUGCUGACCCAGAAGAUGG PLK-99  100 UCAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUA 1285-1303 1508-1526 232 UAGUCCACCCACUUGCUGA PLK-100 101 CAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUAU 1286-1304 1509-1527 233 AUAGUCCACCCACUUGCUG PLK-101 102 GCAAGUGGGUGGACUAUUC 1288-1306 1511-1529 234 GAAUAGUCCACCCACUUGC PLK-102  103 GGACUAUUCGGACAAGUAC 1298-1316 1521-1539 235 GUACUUGUCCGAAUAGUCC PLK-103  104 GGUAUCAGCUCUGUGAUAA 1324-1342 1547-1565 236 UUAUCACAGAGCUGAUACC PLK-104 105 GGUGCUCUUCAAUGACUCA 1352-1370 1575-1593 237 UGAGUCAUUGAAGAGCACC PLK-105 106 GCUCUUCAAUGACUCAACA 1355-1373 1578-1596 238 UGUUGAGUCAUUGAAGAGC PLK-106 107 UGACUCAACACGCCUCAUC 1364-1382 1587-1605 239 GAUGAGGCGUGUUGAGUCA PLK-107 108 CACGCCUCAUCCUCUACAA 1372-1390 1595-1613 240 UUGUAGAGGAUGAGGCGUG PLK-109 110 GGUGACAGCCUGCAGUACA 1395-1413 1618-1636 242 UGUACUGCAGGCUGUCACC PLK-110 111 GUGACAGCCUGCAGUACAU 1396-1414 1619-1637 243 AUGUACUGCAGGCUGUCAC PLK-111  112 CCCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGA 1458-1476 1681-1699 244 UCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGGG PLK-112  113 CCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGAA 1459-1477 1682-1700 245 UUCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGG PLK-113 114 ACUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAU 1462-1480 1685-1703 246 AUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAGU PLK-114 115 CUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAUC 1463-1481 1686-1704 247 GAUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAG PLK-115  116 GAAGAAGAUCACCCUCCUU 1472-1490 1695-1713 248 AAGGAGGGUGAUCUUCUUC PLK-116 117 GAAGAUCACCCUCCUUAAA 1475-1493 1698-1716 249 UUUAAGGAGGGUGAUCUUC PLK-117 118 GAUCACCCUCCUUAAAUAU 1478-1496 1701-1719 250 AUAUUUAAGGAGGGUGAUC PLK-118 119 AUAUUUCCGCAAUUACAUG 1493-1511 1716-1734 251 CAUGUAAUUGCGGAAAUAU PLK-120 121 GCAGCGUGCAGAUCAACUU 1636-1654 1859-1877 253 AAGUUGAUCUGCACGCUGC PLK-121 122 GCGUGCAGAUCAACUUCUU 1639-1657 1862-1880 254 AAGAAGUUGAUCUGCACGC PLK-122 123 AGAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGA 1645-1663 1868-1886 255 UCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUCU PLK-123 124 GAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGAU 1646-1664 1869-1887 256 AUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUC PLK-124  125 UCAACUUCUUCCAGGAUCA 1648-1666 1871-1889 257 UGAUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGA PLK-125  126 CUUCUUCCAGGAUCACACC 1652-1670 1875-1893 258 GGUGUGAUCCUGGAAGAAG PLK-126 127 GAUCACACCAAGCUCAUCU 1662-1680 1885-1903 259 AGAUGAGCUUGGUGUGAUC PLK-127 128 UGAUGGCAGCCGUGACCUA 1690-1708 1913-1931 260 UAGGUCACGGCUGCCAUCA PLK-128 129 GCAGAGCUGCAUCAUCCUU 1982-2000 2205-2223 261 AAGGAUGAUGCAGCUCUGC PLK-129 130 CCCACCAUAUGAAUUGUAC 2081-2099 2303-2321 262 GUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGGG PLK-130 131 CCACCAUAUGAAUUGUACA 2082-2100 2304-2322 263 UGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGG PLK-131 132 CACCAUAUGAAUUGUACAG 2083-2101 2305-2323 264 CUGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUG

TABLE 5 Human-chimpanzee homologous siRNA sequences Corresponding Corresponding target site  target site SEQ sequence in sequence in ID Nucleotide human mRNA chimpanzee mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM_005030.3) (XM_001163623.2) PLK-2 3 CCAAGUGCUUCGAGAUCUC 247-265 885-903 135 GAGAUCUCGAAGCACUUGG PLK-3 4 GUGCUUCGAGAUCUCGGAC 251-269 889-907 136 GUCCGAGAUCUCGAAGCAC PLK-5 6 CAAGAUUGUGCCUAAGUCU 296-314 934-952 138 AGACUUAGGCACAAUCUUG PLK-6 7 GAUUGUGCCUAAGUCUCUG 299-317 937-955 139 CAGAGACUUAGGCACAAUC PLK-8 9 AAGCCGCACCAGAGGGAGA 324-342 962-980 141 UCUCCCUCUGGUGCGGCUU PLK-9 10 GAUGUCCAUGGAAAUAUCC 344-362  982-1000 142 GGAUAUUUCCAUGGACAUC PLK-10 11 AUGGAAAUAUCCAUUCACC 351-369  989-1007 143 GGUGAAUGGAUAUUUCCAU PLK-11 12 GAAAUAUCCAUUCACCGCA 354-372  992-1010 144 UGCGGUGAAUGGAUAUUUC PLK-12 13 AUAUCCAUUCACCGCAGCC 357-375  995-1013 145 GGCUGCGGUGAAUGGAUAU PLK-13 14 ACCAGCACGUCGUAGGAUU 382-400 1020-1038 146 AAUCCUACGACGUGCUGGU PLK-14 15 UCGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUU 391-409 1029-1047 147 AAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACGA PLK-15 16 CGUAGGAUUCCACGGCUUU 392-410 1030-1048 148 AAAGCCGUGGAAUCCUACG PLK-16 17 CGACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUG 422-440 1060-1078 149 CACCACGAACACGAAGUCG PLK-17 18 ACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUGUU 424-442 1062-1080 150 AACACCACGAACACGAAGU PLK-18 19 GCUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAA 473-491 1111-1129 151 UUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAGC PLK-19 20 CUGCACAAGAGGAGGAAAG 474-492 1112-1130 152 CUUUCCUCCUCUUGUGCAG PLK-21 22 CCGAUACUACCUACGGCAA 512-530 1150-1168 154 UUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUCGG PLK-22 23 CGAUACUACCUACGGCAAA 513-531 1151-1169 155 UUUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUCG PLK-23 24 GAUACUACCUACGGCAAAU 514-532 1152-1170 156 AUUUGCCGUAGGUAGUAUC PLK-24 25 CCUACGGCAAAUUGUGCUU 521-539 1159-1177 157 AAGCACAAUUUGCCGUAGG PLK-25 26 AUUGUGCUUGGCUGCCAGU 531-549 1169-1187 158 ACUGGCAGCCAAGCACAAU PLK-26 27 GCCAGUACCUGCACCGAAA 544-562 1182-1200 159 UUUCGGUGCAGGUACUGGC PLK-27 28 CUGCACCGAAACCGAGUUA 552-570 1190-1208 160 UAACUCGGUUUCGGUGCAG PLK-28 29 GCACCGAAACCGAGUUAUU 554-572 1192-1210 161 AAUAACUCGGUUUCGGUGC PLK-33  34 GAGACCUCAAGCUGGGCAA 577-595 1215-1233 166 UUGCCCAGCUUGAGGUCUC PLK-34  35 UGAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGU 604-622 1242-1260 167 ACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUCA PLK-35  36 GAAUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUG 605-623 1243-1261 168 CACCUCCAGAUCUUCAUUC PLK-36  37 AUGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAA 607-625 1245-1263 169 UUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCAU PLK-37  38 UGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAAA 608-626 1246-1264 170 UUUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCA PLK-38  39 GGCAACCAAAGUCGAAUAU 644-662 1282-1300 171 AUAUUCGACUUUGGUUGCC PLK-39  40 CAACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGA 646-664 1284-1302 172 UCAUAUUCGACUUUGGUUG PLK-40  41 ACCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACG 648-666 1286-1304 173 CGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGGU PLK-41  42 CCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACGG 649-667 1287-1305 174 CCGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGG PLK-42  43 AGUCGAAUAUGACGGGGAG 653-671 1291-1309 175 CUCCCCGUCAUAUUCGACU PLK-43  44 UAUGACGGGGAGAGGAAGA 660-678 1298-1316 176 UCUUCCUCUCCCCGUCAUA PLK-44  45 CUGUGUGGGACUCCUAAUU 684-702 1322-1340 177 AAUUAGGAGUCCCACACAG PLK-45  46 GUGGGACUCCUAAUUACAU 688-706 1326-1344 178 AUGUAAUUAGGAGUCCCAC PLK-46  47 UGGGACUCCUAAUUACAUA 689-707 1327-1345 179 UAUGUAAUUAGGAGUCCCA PLK-47 48 GACUCCUAAUUACAUAGCU 692-710 1330-1348 180 AGCUAUGUAAUUAGGAGUC PLK-48 49 CUAAUUACAUAGCUCCCGA 697-715 1335-1353 181 UCGGGAGCUAUGUAAUUAG PLK-49  50 UUACAUAGCUCCCGAGGUG 701-719 1339-1357 182 CACCUCGGGAGCUAUGUAA PLK-50  51 GCAAGAAAGGGCACAGUUU 724-742 1362-1380 183 AAACUGUGCCCUUUCUUGC PLK-51 52 GAAAGGGCACAGUUUCGAG 728-746 1366-1384 184 CUCGAAACUGUGCCCUUUC PLK-52  53 CCAUUGGGUGUAUCAUGUA 760-778 1398-1416 185 UACAUGAUACACCCAAUGG PLK-53 54 CAUUGGGUGUAUCAUGUAU 761-779 1399-1417 186 AUACAUGAUACACCCAAUG PLK-54  55 GGUGUAUCAUGUAUACCUU 766-784 1404-1422 187 AAGGUAUACAUGAUACACC PLK-55 56 AUCAUGUAUACCUUGUUAG 771-789 1409-1427 188 CUAACAAGGUAUACAUGAU PLK-56 57 AUGUAUACCUUGUUAGUGG 774-792 1412-1430 189 CCACUAACAAGGUAUACAU PLK-57  58 AUACCUUGUUAGUGGGCAA 778-796 1416-1434 190 UUGCCCACUAACAAGGUAU PLK-58  59 CUUGUUAGUGGGCAAACCA 782-800 1420-1438 191 UGGUUUGCCCACUAACAAG PLK-59 60 UUUGAGACUUCUUGCCUAA 804-822 1442-1460 192 UUAGGCAAGAAGUCUCAAA PLK-60 61 AGAGACCUACCUCCGGAUC 824-842 1462-1480 193 GAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUCU PLK-61  62 GAGACCUACCUCCGGAUCA 825-843 1463-1481 194 UGAUCCGGAGGUAGGUCUC PLK-62  63 CCUCCGGAUCAAGAAGAAU 833-851 1471-1489 195 AUUCUUCUUGAUCCGGAGG PLK-63 64 CCGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAA 836-854 1474-1492 196 UUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCGG PLK-64 65 CGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAU 837-855 1475-1493 197 AUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCG PLK-65 66 GGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUA 838-856 1476-1494 198 UAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCC PLK-66  67 GAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUAC 839-857 1477-1495 199 GUAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUC PLK-67 68 CAAGAAGAAUGAAUACAGU 842-860 1480-1498 200 ACUGUAUUCAUUCUUCUUG PLK-68  69 GAAGAAUGAAUACAGUAUU 845-863 1483-1501 201 AAUACUGUAUUCAUUCUUC PLK-69  70 GAAUGAAUACAGUAUUCCC 848-866 1486-1504 202 GGGAAUACUGUAUUCAUUC PLK-70 71 UGAAUACAGUAUUCCCAAG 851-869 1489-1507 203 CUUGGGAAUACUGUAUUCA PLK-71  72 UACAGUAUUCCCAAGCACA 855-873 1493-1511 204 UGUGCUUGGGAAUACUGUA PLK-72  73 GUAUUCCCAAGCACAUCAA 859-877 1497-1515 205 UUGAUGUGCUUGGGAAUAC PLK-73  74 GAUGCUUCAGACAGAUCCC 905-923 1543-1561 206 GGGAUCUGUCUGAAGCAUC PLK-74  75 CAACCAUUAACGAGCUGCU 934-952 1572-1590 207 AGCAGCUCGUUAAUGGUUG PLK-75  76 CCAUUAACGAGCUGCUUAA 937-955 1575-1593 208 UUAAGCAGCUCGUUAAUGG PLK-80  81 GAGUUCUUUACUUCUGGCU 960-978 1598-1616 213 AGCCAGAAGUAAAGAACUC PLK-81  82 GUUCUUUACUUCUGGCUAU 962-980 1600-1618 214 AUAGCCAGAAGUAAAGAAC PLK-82  83 CUUUACUUCUGGCUAUAUC 965-983 1603-1621 215 GAUAUAGCCAGAAGUAAAG PLK-84  85 CCCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAA 1069-1087 1707-1725 217 UUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGGG PLK-85  86 CCUCACAGUCCUCAAUAAA 1070-1088 1708-1726 218 UUUAUUGAGGACUGUGAGG PLK-86  87 CAGUCCUCAAUAAAGGCUU 1075-1093 1713-1731 219 AAGCCUUUAUUGAGGACUG PLK-87  88 CUCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGA 1080-1098 1718-1736 220 UCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGAG PLK-88  89 UCAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAA 1081-1099 1719-1737 221 UUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUGA PLK-89  90 CAAUAAAGGCUUGGAGAAC 1082-1100 1720-1738 222 GUUCUCCAAGCCUUUAUUG PLK-90  91 UAAAGGCUUGGAGAACCCC 1085-1103 1723-1741 223 GGGGUUCUCCAAGCCUUUA PLK-91  92 AGAAGAACCAGUGGUUCGA 1127-1145 1765-1783 224 UCGAACCACUGGUUCUUCU PLK-92  93 GAACCAGUGGUUCGAGAGA 1131-1149 1769-1787 225 UCUCUCGAACCACUGGUUC PLK-93 94 CCAGUGGUUCGAGAGACAG 1134-1152 1772-1790 226 CUGUCUCUCGAACCACUGG PLK-94  95 AGACAGGUGAGGUGGUCGA 1147-1165 1785-1803 227 UCGACCACCUCACCUGUCU PLK-95  96 GGCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGA 1240-1258 1878-1896 228 UCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGCC PLK-96 97 GCAAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAU 1241-1259 1879-1897 229 AUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUUGC PLK-97 98 AAGAGGAGGCUGAGGAUCC 1243-1261 1881-1899 230 GGAUCCUCAGCCUCCUCUU PLK-98 99 CCAUCUUCUGGGUCAGCAA 1273-1291 1911-1929 231 UUGCUGACCCAGAAGAUGG PLK-99 100 UCAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUA 1285-1303 1923-1941 232 UAGUCCACCCACUUGCUGA PLK-100  101 CAGCAAGUGGGUGGACUAU 1286-1304 1924-1942 233 AUAGUCCACCCACUUGCUG PLK-101 102 GCAAGUGGGUGGACUAUUC 1288-1306 1926-1944 234 GAAUAGUCCACCCACUUGC PLK-102 103 GGACUAUUCGGACAAGUAC 1298-1316 1936-1954 235 GUACUUGUCCGAAUAGUCC PLK-103 104 GGUAUCAGCUCUGUGAUAA 1324-1342 1962-1980 236 UUAUCACAGAGCUGAUACC PLK-104 105 GGUGCUCUUCAAUGACUCA 1352-1370 1990-2008 237 UGAGUCAUUGAAGAGCACC PLK-105 106 GCUCUUCAAUGACUCAACA 1355-1373 1993-2011 238 UGUUGAGUCAUUGAAGAGC PLK-106 107 UGACUCAACACGCCUCAUC 1364-1382 2002-2020 239 GAUGAGGCGUGUUGAGUCA PLK-107 108 CACGCCUCAUCCUCUACAA 1372-1390 2010-2028 240 UUGUAGAGGAUGAGGCGUG PLK-108  109 CUACAAUGAUGGUGACAGC 1385-1403 2023-2041 241 GCUGUCACCAUCAUUGUAG PLK-109  110 GGUGACAGCCUGCAGUACA 1395-1413 2033-2051 242 UGUACUGCAGGCUGUCACC PLK-110  111 GUGACAGCCUGCAGUACAU 1396-1414 2034-2052 243 AUGUACUGCAGGCUGUCAC PLK-111  112 CCCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGA 1458-1476 2096-2114 244 UCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGGG PLK-112  113 CCAACUCCUUGAUGAAGAA 1459-1477 2097-2115 245 UUCUUCAUCAAGGAGUUGG PLK-113 114 ACUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAU 1462-1480 2100-2118 246 AUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAGU PLK-114  115 CUCCUUGAUGAAGAAGAUC 1463-1481 2101-2119 247 GAUCUUCUUCAUCAAGGAG PLK-115 116 GAAGAAGAUCACCCUCCUU 1472-1490 2110-2128 248 AAGGAGGGUGAUCUUCUUC PLK-116 117 GAAGAUCACCCUCCUUAAA 1475-1493 2113-2131 249 UUUAAGGAGGGUGAUCUUC PLK-117 118 GAUCACCCUCCUUAAAUAU 1478-1496 2116-2134 250 AUAUUUAAGGAGGGUGAUC PLK-118  119 AUAUUUCCGCAAUUACAUG 1493-1511 2131-2149 251 CAUGUAAUUGCGGAAAUAU PLK-119  120 UUACAUGAGCGAGCACUUG 1505-1523 2143-2161 252 CAAGUGCUCGCUCAUGUAA PLK-120  121 GCAGCGUGCAGAUCAACUU 1636-1654 2274-2292 253 AAGUUGAUCUGCACGCUGC PLK-121  122 GCGUGCAGAUCAACUUCUU 1639-1657 2277-2295 254 AAGAAGUUGAUCUGCACGC PLK-122  123 AGAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGA 1645-1663 2283-2301 255 UCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUCU PLK-123 124 GAUCAACUUCUUCCAGGAU 1646-1664 2284-2302 256 AUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGAUC PLK-124 125 UCAACUUCUUCCAGGAUCA 1648-1666 2286-2304 257 UGAUCCUGGAAGAAGUUGA PLK-125  126 CUUCUUCCAGGAUCACACC 1652-1670 2290-2308 258 GGUGUGAUCCUGGAAGAAG PLK-126  127 GAUCACACCAAGCUCAUCU 1662-1680 2300-2318 259 AGAUGAGCUUGGUGUGAUC PLK-127  128 UGAUGGCAGCCGUGACCUA 1690-1708 2328-2346 260 UAGGUCACGGCUGCCAUCA PLK-128 129 GCAGAGCUGCAUCAUCCUU  1982-2000 2620-2638 261 AAGGAUGAUGCAGCUCUGC PLK-129  130 CCCACCAUAUGAAUUGUAC 2081-2099 2718-2736 262 GUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGGG PLK-130 131 CCACCAUAUGAAUUGUACA 2082-2100 2719-2737 263 UGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUGG PLK-131  132 CACCAUAUGAAUUGUACAG 2083-2101 2720-2738 264 CUGUACAAUUCAUAUGGUG PLK-132  133 UCCUUUCCUUGGCUUUAUG 2127-2145 2764-2782 265 CAUAAAGCCAAGGAAAGGA

The foregoing 132 siRNAs obtained by such design were further optimized. At this time, the following six aspects are considered: 1) the action targets of the selected siRNAs are required to be evenly distributed in the full-length sequence of the mRNA; 2) avoiding the action targets to locate in the complex secondary or tertiary structural domain of the mRNA; 3) the action target sequence of the siRNAs are located in the coding region of plk1 mRNA. The 5′ noncoding region of plk1 mRNA only consists of 53 nucleotides. A sequence in this region may be blocked by translation regulatory protein and ribosome subunit bound to it, so it is not suitable to be used as an action target of siRNA. With respect to the targets in the coding region and the 3′ noncoding region, the targets in the coding region should be preferably considered, and particularly, the targets should avoid to be located in the low-complex and length-variable region in the 3′ noncoding region close to the poly(A) tail; 4) a sequence in which the 1^(st) base is G/C, the 13^(th) base is not G, and the 19^(th) base is A rather than G in the first single strand is preferred; 5) a sequence in which the 3^(rd) base is A and the 10^(th) base is U in the first single strand is preferred; and 6) single nucleotide polymorphism site should be avoided. Based on the above considerations, 14 siRNA sequences were finally preferably selected from the 132 designed siRNA sequences. The result is shown in Table 6.

Oligonucleotide single strands of the siRNAs were chemically synthesized by a method well known in the art. The sequences of the synthesized oligonucleotides are shown in Table 6. During synthesis, two deoxy-thymidine monophosphates (dTMP) dTdT (which are underlined in Table 6) were added to the 3′-end of the oligonucleotide single strands. The complementary oligonucleotide single strands were annealed to form a double-stranded RNA, with both ends of the double-stranded structure having a 3′ protruding end of dTdT, respectively.

TABLE 6 Corresponding target site SEQ sequence in  ID Nucleotide human mRNA No. No. sequence (5′→3′) (NM_005030.3) PLK-3 4 GUGCUUCGAGAUCUCGGACdTdT 251-269 136 GUCCGAGAUCUCGAAGCACdTdT PLK-16 17 CGACUUCGUGUUCGUGGUGdTdT 422-440 149 CACCACGAACACGAAGUCGdTdT PLK-37 38 UGAAGAUCUGGAGGUGAAAdTdT 608-626 170 UUUCACCUCCAGAUCUUCAdTdT PLK-41 42 CCAAAGUCGAAUAUGACGGdTdT 649-667 174 CCGUCAUAUUCGACUUUGGdTdT PLK-54 55 GGUGUAUCAUGUAUACCUUdTdT 766-774 187 AAGGUAUACAUGAUACACCdTdT PLK-64 65 CGGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUdTdT 837-855 197 AUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCGdTdT PLK-65 66 GGAUCAAGAAGAAUGAAUAdTdT 838-856 198 UAUUCAUUCUUCUUGAUCCdTdT PLK-67 68 CAAGAAGAAUGAAUACAGUdTdT 842-860 200 ACUGUAUUCAUUCUUCUUGdTdT PLK-76 77 CGAGCUGCUUAAUGACGAGdTdT 944-962 209 CUCGUCAUUAAGCAGCUCGdTdT PLK-92 93 GAACCAGUGGUUCGAGAGAdTdT 1131-1149 225 UCUCUCGAACCACUGGUUCdTdT PLK-102 103 GGACUAUUCGGACAAGUACdTdT 1298-1316 235 GUACUUGUCCGAAUAGUCCdTdT PLK-103 104 GGUAUCAGCUCUGUGAUAAdTdT 1324-1342 236 UUAUCACAGAGCUGAUACCdTdT PLK-108 109 CUACAAUGAUGGUGACAGCdTdT 1385-1403 241 GCUGUCACCAUCAUUGUAGdTdT PLK-128 129 GCAGAGCUGCAUCAUCCUUdTdT 1982-2000 261 AAGGAUGAUGCAGCUCUGCdTdT

Example 2 Verification of the Inhibitory Effect of the siRNAs on the Expression of Plk1 Gene

(Transfection of the siRNAs)

Human liver cancer cell strain HepG2 was seeded in a 24-well plate by using a DMEM complete medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 g/ml streptomycin. The density of cells was 4×10⁵ cells/well and each well had 0.5 ml, and the cells were cultured at 37° C. overnight.

The detailed operating steps of transfection were as follows: Dilute 100 ng of the 14 siRNAs synthesized in Example 1 (PLK-3, 16, 37, 41, 54, 64, 65, 67, 76, 92, 102, 103, 108 and 128) in 50 μl DEME serum-free medium respectively, meanwhile dilute 1 μl Lipofectamine™ 2000 (made by Invitrogen) in 50 μl DEME serum-free medium, incubate the foregoing two solutions at room temperature for 5 min respectively, and then evenly mix them. After the mixed solution was allowed to stand at room temperature for 20 min, 100 μl of the mixed solution was added into the 24-well plate seeded with HepG2 cells. The final concentration of siRNA was about 10 nM. The cells were cultured at 37° C. for 4 h, then 1 ml DMEM complete medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 g/ml streptomycin was added, and the cells were cultured at 37° C. for 24 h. As a negative control, a negative control siRNA (N.C. siRNA) with a sense strand of 5′-UUCUCCGAACGUGUCACGUdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 280) and a complementary antisense strand of 5′-ACGUGACACGUUCGGAGAAdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 281) was transfected simultaneously.

(Inhibitory Effect of the siRNAs on the Expression Level of Plk1 mRNA)

The expression amount of plk1 mRNA in HepG2 cells transfected with siRNA PLK-3, 16, 37, 41, 54, 64, 65, 67, 76, 92, 102, 103, 108 and 128 respectively was detected by fluorescent Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) comprising the following steps: after culturing the transfected cells for 24 h, total RNA in the cells was extracted with RNeasy mini Kit (made by Qiagen). The absorbance of OD₂₈₀ and OD₂₆₀ of the extracted RNA sample was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometer, and the concentration of the RNA sample was calculated according to the following formula: RNA concentration (μg/μL)=0.04×OD₂₆₀×Dilution factor. Then cDNA was synthesized by using PrimeScript™ 1st Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (made by Takara), wherein each sample used 2 μg total RNA extracted by the above steps. After synthesis of cDNA, SYBR® Premix Ex Taq™ (made by Takara) kit was used to perform fluorescent qRT-PCR reaction, wherein the PCR amplification primers used for amplifying plk1 and β-actin which was used as the internal control for the quantitative PCR reaction are shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Upstream primer Downstream primer plk1 5′-GCCCCTCACAGTCCTCAATA-3′ 5′-TACCCAAGGCCGTACTTGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 266) (SEQ ID NO: 267) β-actin 5′-AGCGAGCATCCCCCAAAGTT-3′ 5′-GGGCACGAAGGCTCATCATT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 268) (SEQ ID NO: 269)

The inhibition rate of the siRNAs on the expression level of plk1 mRNA was calculated according to the following equation: the inhibition rate=[1−(the expression amount of plk1 mRNA in the experimental wells/the expression amount of β-actin mRNA in the experimental wells)/(the expression amount of plk1 mRNA in the negative control wells/the expression amount of β-actin mRNA in the negative control wells)]×100%. The result is shown in FIG. 1. It can be seen from FIG. 1 that, all the siRNAs of the present invention have an effect of inhibiting the expression level of plk1 mRNA, wherein the inhibition rates of siRNA PLK-65, siRNA PLK-67 and siRNA PLK-76 on the expression level of plk1 mRNA are 64%, 68% and 78% respectively, all above 60%, suggesting that the siRNAs of the present invention all have the activity of inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene and may be used to inhibit the expression of plk1 gene.

Preparation Example 1

Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co., Ltd. was entrusted to synthesize the oligonucleotides listed in Table 8. These oligonucleotides contain modified nucleotide groups. The complementary oligonucleotide strands were annealed to form modified siRNAs, named as PLK(m)-65-1, PLK(m)-65-2, PLK(m)-67-1, PLK(m)-67-2 and PLK(m)-76-1 respectively, wherein (OMe) means that the 2′-hydroxy of the pentose group in the nucleotide residue on its left is substituted by methoxy, while (F) means that the 2′-hydroxy of the pentose group in the nucleotide residue on its left is substituted by fluorine. The nucleotide sequences of these siRNAs before being modified correspond to PLK-65, PLK-67 and PLK-76 in Example 1 respectively.

TABLE 8 No. Nucleotide sequence (5′→3′) PLK(m)-65-1 G(OMe)GAUC(OMe)A(OMe)AGAAGAAU(OMe)GAAUA(OMe)dTdT (SEQ ID NO: 270) UA(OMc)UUCAUUCUUCUUG(OMc)AUCCdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 271) PLK(m)-65-2 G(OMe)GAUC(OMe)A(OMe)AGA AGAAU(OMe)GA AU(OMe)AdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 272) UA(OMc)UUC(F)AUUCUUCUUGAU(F)CCdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 273) PLK(m)-67-1 C(OMe)A(OMe)AGAAGAAUGAAU(OMe)AC(OMe)AGUdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 274) AC(OMe)UG(OMe)UAUUCAUUCUUCUU(F)GdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 275) PLK(m)-67-2 C(OMe)A(OMe)AGAAGAAUGAAU(OMe)AC(OMe)A(OMe)GUdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 276) AC(OMe)U(F)GUAUUCAUUCUUCUU(F)GdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 277) PLK(m)-76-1 C(OMe)GAGCU(OMe)GCUUAAUG(OMe)ACGAGdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 278) CU(OMe)CGUC(F)AUUAAGCAGCUCGdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 279)

Example 3 Evaluation of the Influence of Chemical Modification on Serum Stability of the siRNAs

With respect to PLK(m)-65-1, PLK(m)-65-2, PLK(m)-67-1, PLK(m)-67-2 and PLK(m)-76-1 obtained in Preparation Example 1 as well as PLK-65, PLK-67 and PLK-76 obtained in Example 1, their stability in serum environment was determined. And the detailed steps were as follows.

10 μl of the foregoing modified and unmodified siRNAs (20 μmol) were mixed with 50 μl fetal bovine serum (FBS, bought from HyClone, Cat. No. GTB0060) and 40 μl PBS respectively, and then incubated at 37° C. for 0, 2, 4, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h to obtain the treated samples. 10 μl of each of the treated samples was taken and subjected to 20% PAGE. Degradation rates were calculated based on the ratio between the light intensity of the electrophoretic bands of the above treated samples and the light intensity of the electrophoretic bands of the samples at 0 h. The results are shown in FIG. 2 and Table 9. The degradation rates listed in Table 9 are those calculated based on the ratio between the light intensity of the electrophoretic bands of the samples at 72 h and the light intensity of the electrophoretic bands of the samples at 0 h. It can be seen from FIG. 2 and Table 9 that, in serum environment, the stability of the modified siRNAs is obviously increased compared with that of the unmodified siRNAs.

TABLE 9 Modified Degradation Unmodified Degradation siRNA rate (%) siRNA rate (%) PLK(m)-65-1 25.13 ± 3.71  PLK-65 94.67 ± 2.87 PLK(m)-65-2 10.98 ± 5.95  PLK(m)-67-1 8.64 ± 2.24 PLK-67 86.64 ± 5.21 PLK(m)-67-2 5.71 ± 3.84 PLK(m)-76-1 8.95 ± 5.74 PLK-76 72.34 ± 3.53

Example 4 Verification of the Inhibitory Effect of the siRNAs Before and after being Chemically Modified on the Expression Level of Plk1 mRNA

The inhibitory effect of siRNA PLK(m)-65-1, siRNA PLK(m)-67-1 and siRNA PLK(m)-76-1 obtained in Preparation Example 1 as well as siRNA PLK-65, siRNA PLK-67 and siRNA PLK-76 obtained in Example 1 on the expression level of plk1 mRNA was determined by the method in Example 2, respectively. When performing the transfection, the foregoing siRNAs were transfected at gradient doses, such that the final concentrations of the foregoing siRNAs were 0.1 nM, 1 nM and 10 nM respectively. Negative control siRNA (N.C. siRNA) with a sense strand of 5′-UUCUCCGAACGUGUCACGUdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 280) and a complementary antisense strand of 5′-ACGUGACACGUUCGGAGAAdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 281) which is the same as that in Example 2 was used as a negative control. The fluorescent qRT-PCR determination result is shown in FIG. 3. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that modified siRNAs have similar inhibitory effect on the expression level of plk1 mRNA compared to that of unmodified siRNAs. When the dose is 10 nM, PLK(m)-65-1 and PLK(m)-67-1 have more excellent inhibitory effect compared with that of unmodified siRNA PLK-65 and PLK-67. Apparently, such results are obtained because the modification enhances the stability of the siRNAs and thereby lengthening the retention time of the siRNAs in cells.

Example 5 Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Growth by Locally Administered siRNAs

Human breast cancer cell strain MDA-MB-435s was inoculated in situ under the fat pad of the second mammary gland of each BALB/c nude mouse (5×10⁶ cells/nude mouse). About 14 days later, visible tumor was formed. The tumor volume was calculated according to the following formula: V=0.5×a×b², wherein a refers to the long diameter of the tumor and b refers to the short diameter of the tumor. Five inoculated nude mice formed a group. The average tumor volume of the nude mice in each group was about 50 mm³.

As the treatment groups, 10 μg siRNA PLK-65, PLK(m)-65-1, PLK(m)-65-2, PLK-67, PLK(m)-67-1, PLK(m)-67-2, PLK-76 and PLK(m)-76-1 were respectively dissolved in 100 μl PBS (pH 7.4) and intratumoral injection was conducted directly. As the negative control group, the negative control siRNA (N.C. siRNA, with a sense strand of 5′-UUCUCCGAACGUGUCACGUdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 280) and a complementary antisense strand of 5′-ACGUGACACGUUCGGAGAAdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 281)) mentioned in Example 2 was employed. Every other day, 10 μg of the foregoing siRNAs were used to conduct intratumoral injection again. 20 days after the first injection, tumor volume was measured using the above-mentioned method. The result is shown in Table 10.

TABLE 10 Tumor volume (mm³) Negative control 160 ± 20  PLK-65 95 ± 10 PLK(m)-65-1 60 ± 20 PLK(m)-65-2 75 ± 15 PLK-67 80 ± 20 PLK(m)-67-1 80 ± 30 PLK(m)-67-2 90 ± 15 PLK-76 80 ± 25 PLK(m)-76-1 75 ± 20

It can be known from Table 10 that, compared with the negative control group, tumor cell growth was significantly inhibited in all the treatment groups treated with PLK-65, PLK(m)-65-1, PLK(m)-65-2, PLK-67, PLK(m)-67-1, PLK(m)-67-2, PLK-76 and PLK(m)-76-1.

Example 6 Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Growth by the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions when Systemically Administered Via Tail Vein Injection

(Preparation of the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions)

In this example, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid diblock copolymer (PEG-PLA) and cationic lipid N,N-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide (BHEM-Chol) were used to prepare the siRNA pharmaceutical compositions. The detailed preparation procedure referred to the method mentioned in Yang X Z., et al. J. Cont. Release 2011, 156(2):203. That is, 25 mg PEG₅₀₀₀-PLA₂₅₀₀₀ and 1 mg BHEM-Chol were dissolved in 0.5 mL chloroform. After siRNA (0.025 mL, 0.2 mg) water solution was added, the solution was ultrasonicated in an ice bath to form an initial emulsion; then the initial emulsion was added into 1.5 mL 1% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) water solution. The obtained solution was emulsified with ultrasound in an ice bath to form an emulsion. The emulsion was added into 25 mL 0.3% PVA water solution. The organic solvent was removed by evaporation under reduced pressure. The precipitate was collected by centrifuge. The precipitate was re-suspended with water and collected by centrifuge twice to remove PVA, thereby obtaining a pharmaceutical composition containing siRNA. In the pharmaceutical composition obtained by the above steps, the weight ratio of each ingredient was siRNA/cationic lipid/polymer=0.2/1.0/25.0.

(Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Growth by the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions Administered Via Tail Vein Injection)

Human breast cancer cell strain MDA-MB-435s was inoculated in situ under the fat pad of the second mammary gland on the right of each BALB/c nude mouse (5×10⁶ cells). About 14 days later, visible tumor was formed. The average tumor volume was about 50 mm³. The nude mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, with each group having 8 nude mice. Administration was performed by tail vein injection. The administration dose was 1 mg/kg (^(˜)20 μg siRNA/mouse) calculated based on effective siRNA amount, and the administration was carried out every other day, 10 times in total. The negative control groups were injected via tail vein with 150 μl PBS solution (negative control group 1) and 150 μl PBS solution containing 20 μg negative control siRNA mentioned in Example 2 (the sense strand is 5′-UUCUCCGAACGUGUCACGUdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 280) and the complementary antisense strand is 5′-ACGUGACACGUUCGGAGAAdTdT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 281)) prepared by the above steps (N.C. siRNA pharmaceutical composition, negative control group 2). The treatment groups were injected via tail vein with 150 μl PBS solution containing 20 μg PLK(m)-65-1 (PLK(m)-65-1 pharmaceutical composition, treatment group 1) or 150 μl PBS solution containing 20 μg PLK(m)-67-1 (PLK(m)-67-1 pharmaceutical composition, treatment group 2) prepared by the above steps. After each administration, the tumor size was measured to obtain tumor growth data. The tumor size was calculated according to the following formula: V=0.5×a×b², wherein a refers to the long diameter of the tumor and b refers to the short diameter of the tumor. When analyzing the result, the “average tumor size” of the mice in each group at the first administration (i.e., 0 day of drug administration) was defined as 100%. The standard deviation divided by the average tumor size gave relative standard deviation. In the subsequent administration process, the average tumor size and the standard deviation of each group measured each time were corrected with the average tumor size at day 0, such that a tumor cell growth inhibition curve as shown in FIG. 4 was obtained. It can be seen from FIG. 4 that, compared with the negative control groups, systemic administration of the pharmaceutical compositions containing PLK(m)-65-1 and PLK(m)-67-1 by tail vein injection may effectively promote apoptosis of breast cancer cells and inhibit growth of tumor tissues.

Example 7 Inhibition of Cervical Cancer Cell Growth by the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions Administered Via Tail Vein Injection

(Preparation of the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions)

In this Example, polycaprolactone-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) block copolymer (PCL-PDMAEMA) and polyethylene glycol-polyglutamic acid block copolymer in which the polyethylene glycol block is modified by folic acid (folate-PEG-PGA) were used to prepare the siRNA pharmaceutical compositions, wherein PCL-PDMAEMA is a poly β-amino ester amphiphilic cationic polymer, and PEG-PGA is an auxiliary polymer. The preparation steps of the siRNA pharmaceutical compositions referred to the method mentioned in Huang Y Y., et al. Biomaterials. 2012, (18):4653. That is, 20 μl deionized water solution of siRNA (containing about 1 μg siRNA) and 50 μl PBS solution of PCL₅₀₀₀-PDMAEMA₂₀₀₀ were mixed. After the obtained solution was allowed to stand at room temperature for 20 min, 50 μl water solution of folate-PEG₅₀₀₀-PGA₄₆₀₀₀ was added and thoroughly mixed. After incubating at room temperature for 20 min, the system was adjusted by PBS to obtain the needed pharmaceutical composition, wherein the molar ratio of nitrogen (N) in PCL₅₀₀₀-PDMAEMA₂₀₀₀, phosphorus (P) in siRNA and carbon (C) in PEG₅₀₀₀-PGA₄₆₀₀₀ was 5:1:8.

(Inhibition of Cervical Cancer Cell Growth by the siRNA Pharmaceutical Compositions Administered Via Tail Vein Injection)

Human cervical cancer cells Hela were inoculated subcutaneously in the right armpit of BALB/c nude mice (5×10⁶ cells). About 10 days later, visible tumor was formed. The average tumor volume was about 50 mm³. The nude mice were randomly divided into 3 groups, with each group having 7 nude mice. Administration was performed by tail vein injection. The administration dose was 2 mg/kg (˜40 μg siRNA/mouse) calculated based on effective siRNA amount, and the administration was carried out every three days, 7 times in total. The negative control groups were injected via tail vein with 200 μl blank PBS solution (negative control group 1) and PLK(m)-67-1 dissolved in 200 μl PBS (naked PLK(m)-67-1, negative control group 2). The treatment group was injected via tail vein with 200 μl PBS solution containing 40 μg PLK(m)-67-1 (PLK(m)-67-1 pharmaceutical composition, treatment group) prepared by the above steps. After each administration, the tumor size was measured to obtain tumor growth data. The tumor size was calculated according to the following formula: V=0.5×a×b², wherein a refers to the long diameter of the tumor and b refers to the short diameter of the tumor. When analyzing the result, the “average tumor size” of the mice in each group at the first administration (i.e., 0 day of drug administration) was defined as 100%. The standard deviation divided by the average tumor size gave relative standard deviation. In the subsequent administration process, the average tumor size and the standard deviation of each group measured each time were corrected with the average tumor size at day 0, such that a tumor cell growth inhibition curve as shown in FIG. 5 was obtained. It can be seen from FIG. 5 that, compared with the negative control groups, systemic administration of the pharmaceutical composition containing PLK(m)-67-1 by tail vein injection may effectively promote apoptosis of cervical cancer cells and inhibit growth of tumor tissues. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A siRNA with a double-stranded structure, the double-stranded structure consisting of a first single strand and a second single strand which are completely complementary, wherein, the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 68, which is the same as a target site sequence in a plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1; and the second single strand complementary to the first single strand has a nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 200, which is complementary to the target site sequence in the plk1 mRNA sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein each of the first single strand and the second single strand contains at least one modified nucleotide group respectively, wherein the modified nucleotide group is a nucleotide group in which the 2′-hydroxy of the ribose group is substituted by methoxy or fluorine, wherein the siRNA is selected from the following: PLK(m)-67-1 in which the first single strand is C(OMe)A(OMe)AGAAGAAUGAAU(OMe)AC(OMe)AGUdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 274); and the second single strand is AC(OMe)UG(OMe)UAUUCAUUCUUCUU(F)GdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 275); PLK(m)-67-2 in which the first single strand is C(OMe)A(OMe)AGAAGAAUGAAU(OMe)AC(OMe)A(OMe)GUdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 276); and the second single strand is AC(OMe)U(F)GUAUUCAUUCUUCUU(F)GdTdT (SEQ ID NO: 277); wherein (OMe) means that the 2′-hydroxy of the pentose group in the nucleotide residue on its left is substituted by methoxy, while (F) means that the 2′-hydroxy of the pentose group in the nucleotide residue on its left is substituted by fluorine.
 2. A pharmaceutical composition containing the siRNA according to claim 1 as a pharmaceutically active ingredient, as well as a cationic ingredient, a non-cationic ingredient and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 3. The pharmaceutical composition according to claim 2, wherein the cationic ingredient is at least one selected from the group consisting of N,N-dihydroxy ethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide, (2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl-trimethylammonium chloride, N-(1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride, polyethylenimine, poly (3-amino ester and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt, and preferably is polycaprolactone-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) block copolymer; the non-cationic ingredient is at least one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid diblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid triblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) diblock copolymer and polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) triblock copolymer, and preferably is polyethylene glycol-polyglutamic acid block copolymer in which the polyethylene glycol block is modified by folic acid (folate-PEG-PGA); and the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier is selected from the group consisting of phosphate buffer solution with a pH of 4.0-9.0, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane hydrochloride buffer solution with a pH of 7.5-8.5, normal saline, or 7-15 wt % sucrose solution.
 4. A method for inhibiting the expression of plk1 gene in mammalian cells, wherein the method comprises introducing the siRNA according to claim 1 into mammalian cells, thereby allowing the siRNA to sequence-specifically induce inhibition of the expression of the plk1 gene.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein modes for the introducing include introducing the siRNA directly, or introducing the siRNA in a form of the pharmaceutical composition, wherein the pharmaceutical composition containing the siRNA as a pharmaceutically active ingredient further comprises a cationic ingredient, a non-cationic ingredient and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, wherein the cationic ingredient comprises at least one of N,N-dihydroxyethyl-N-methyl-N-2-(cholesteryloxycarbonylamino) ethylammonium bromide, (2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl-trimethyl ammonium chloride, N-(1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride, polyethylenimine, poly β-amino ester and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt, or polycaprolactone-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) block copolymer, wherein the non-cationic ingredient comprises at least one of polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid diblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid triblock copolymer, polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) diblock copolymer and polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic acid-glycolic acid) triblock copolymer, or polyethylene glycol-polyglutamic acid block copolymer in which the polyethylene glycol block is modified by folic acid (folate-PEG-PGA), and wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier comprises at least one of phosphate buffer solution with a pH of 4.0-9.0, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane hydrochloride buffer solution with a pH of 7.5-8.5, normal saline, or 7-15 wt % sucrose solution.
 6. A method for treating tumor, comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition according to claim 2 to a subject in need thereof.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the tumor is breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer or colon cancer with abnormally high expression of plk1 gene.
 8. A method for treating tumor, comprising administering an siRNA according to claim 1 to a subject in need thereof. 